New controversy erupts over LePage comments about Muslim, blacks, Hispanics

Good morning from Augusta. In two speaking appearances Wednesday, Gov. Paul LePage put himself back in the center of two race-related controversies, one he started and one touched off by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Carr equated Fazeli to the Tsarnaev brothers, who bombed the Boston Marathon in 2013. LePage agreed.

“[Fazeli] is just another version of [the Tsarnaev brothers], then there are the mighty powerful ones like Mr. Kahn who is a con artist himself,” said LePage. “He uses the death of his son who is an American soldier which we respect and honor and he uses that to go after Trump, which I find very distasteful. then we find out that he’s a law partner with guess who? The attorney general of the United States.”

The Khan comment was brought to light — to me at least — in a Tweet from Gerald Weinand, who has long been a harsh critic of LePage.

LePage said that since his January comments, which received national attention, he has kept a three-ring binder with information about alleged drug traffickers arrested in Maine. He said more than 90 percent of them “are black and Hispanic people from Waterbury, Connecticut, the Bronx and Brooklyn.”

“There are a whole lot of white girls, too, a whole lot of white girls,” LePage reportedly said. “In fact, in almost every single picture is a white Maine girl in the picture.”

Both of these comments came amid long, detailed and measured discussions about a range of important issues facing Maine. LePage will undoubtedly defend himself, as he has in the past, by accusing the media of focusing on the proverbial tree instead of the forest. The town hall comments drew immediate criticism.

“I’m disgusted that Paul LePage came to my town to make racially charged comments that will do nothing more than divide our state,” said Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves in a written statement. Eves lives in North Berwick but had previously said he did not plan to attend LePage’s forum.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine also chimed in and said white people are statistically more likely to sell drugs than black people.

We’ve reached out to LePage’s communications staff for an explanation of the Khan comments but have not yet heard back. We’ll also see if we can take a look at his scrapbook. You’ll read about it here if we do. — Christopher Cousins

Mixing Ripple wine and Southern Comfort: ‘Purple Jesus Party’

Amid all of LePage’s public comments on Wednesday was a less-than-serious exchange with Howie Carr during a discussion about the referendum on the November ballot to legalize recreational marijuana in Maine. LePage said, as he has in the past that he experimented with pot as a young man but prefers beer and wine. He said in college, he and his buddies mixed Ripple wine — a cheap, high-alcohol vino — with Southern Comfort whiskey. They called the concoction ‘Purple Jesus Party,’ which Urban Dictionary says is actually a thing.

I’m not about to try a Purple Jesus Party but I will disclose, in the interest of fairness, that I was once handed a drink in college that consisted of cheap brandy and melted Fla-Vor-Ice. We were out of mixers.

About Christopher Cousins

Christopher Cousins has worked as a journalist in Maine for more than 15 years and covered state government for numerous media organizations before joining the Bangor Daily News in 2009.
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